Coming Home (Levi-Petra)
by Somecat
Summary: The story of how they were never quite meant to be, it follows their lives from the age of fourteen. Rated M for language and violence.


Note:((Hello! I'm not sure if this is all 100% accurate to AOT, so I am EXTREMELY sorry if I make some stupid mistakes, would appreciate anyone telling me if I have! First chapter is much before anything of 'importance' happens, when Levi and Petra are 14 and 15. Levi is not currently living in the capital. I wasn't to begin with but plan to carry on adding chapters?Just a little story, hope it's not too bad and you enjoy it!))

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack On Titan

Coming Home

Petra swung the school doors open, the first one out of the building. She nodded to Cara, the bell-ringer, as she left. As soon as she stepped outside, the dappled sunlight dazzled her eyes, the sun slowly sinking behind the colossal wall. A warm breeze swept up the hill, greeting her as she began to walk down it. The taunts of the other kids echoed behind her, and she clenched her fists and quickened her pace. God, it was good to be going home.

Levi sat against the sandy-bricked potters house, throwing a rubber ball against the wall. Simon, the potter, made vases, plates, cups and saucers for the town, and he was one of the few people who got along with Levi. He always had some sort of weird new drug that he couldn't sell, but Levi could. Levi sold the drugs, (he never took them himself )and Simon gave him knowledge and money in return. It was a great set-up, despite the fact that Levi was only fifteen. Simon often wanted knowledge in return, about his 'father'. But that was something Levi could not and would not ever give, and secretly thought Simon was an idiot for even asking about someone so dangerous.

But Simon was not the only person Levi got along with. He picked at the dirt of the tiles, thinking about how disgusting it was, and how pretty Petra Ral was in comparison. He'd always been told not to get distracted by something so 'fleeting' and 'unnecessary' as a girl. He told himself that the only reason he pretended to walk the same way she did every day, was to look for potential customers, because well, isn't every high-school full of bored, idiotic teenagers with too much money, dying to impress their friends? Well, maybe more so in the capital, and maybe he had only ever made one sale to a school-goer(in fact, it was one of the teachers. Mr Toik. Chemistry. He wanted the drug to test on frogs or something), but that didn't stop him waiting in the same place every day for her to walk down the cobblestone hill.

Petra stepped on the stones, carefully avoiding the cracks. She was top in her class, intelligent, but that didn't stop her from gingerly placing each foot, ensuring she missed the concrete in-between. The child's rhyme, 'Step on a crack, break your mothers back' ran through her head, and a sudden shot of pain hit her in the stomach.

It had been three months since her mother had died, and she was doing her best to stay positive. She didn't cry, because what if she couldn't stop? And she had to maintain the illusion of being okay for her father, because although he didn't say it, she could tell that he wasn't okay. It was the way his voice sometimes cracked at the end of a sentence, how his eyes looked broken from the inside. Every time he looked at her, she could tell that he saw her mother. She would stare in the mirror for hours, into the same eyes that she had. She almost wished they would change, so that her dad could be happy again. But his heart was broken. He still laughed and still joked, but the awkward pauses that should have been filled by her laughter were the obvious signs. His heart was broken.

Levi glanced up at the sky, watching the sun slowly setting. Petra would be here soon. He stood up, shouting a goodbye to Simon, still in the shop. He heard a clatter, pots smashing and Simon swearing. Idiot. He started walking, flicking his too-long black hair. He needed it cut, soon. He quickened his pace a little, anxious to see one of his, well, only proper friends. He crossed the road, dodging around a woman pulling a cart of wood. She yelled at him for getting in the way, but he just glared at the ground and hurried on, skirting around the people bustling round, getting closer to the town center. An overpowering smell of sweat and cheap food came from the town, and Levi avoided it, disliking being around so many people. He skulked along the back alley ways, (making sure not to touch the grubby walls), moving quickly through the gloom and darkness before finally coming to the end of the winding path, breaking out into sunlight.

And there she was.

Petra was thinking of all things positive, making a list in her head. Her father, obviously. Her pet cat, Lyra. The sun was shining. How fucking close she was to finishing school, getting away from everyone in her class who had ever-no. That wasn't positive. She thought of how the sheep had just began to give birth to the tiny lambs, how clearly you could see the stars these days, the world outside the wall, and-

-Levi. Leather bag slung over one shoulder, leaning against the wall, his dark hair covering his eyes that were staring at the ground. He was at the bottom of the hill waiting for her. She suppressed a smile building up in her face, her heart beating a little faster. She almost called out to him, and then realised how much of a child she would look, running down the hill to meet him. She stared at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact yet because she was too far away and oh god, those few minutes she took getting to him would be awkward. She pretended to not have noticed him. He probably wasn't even waiting for her, anyway, so.

Levi looked at the ground, throwing the ball with one hand in the air, then catching it. He considered walking up to meet Petra but worried she'd think he was stupid, following her around like a little dog. Or what if he looked really creepy and stalker-ish? She already thought he was a stupid school drop-out, drug dealer, good-for-nothing dickhead. He pretended to not have noticed her.

Oh shit, she was nearly at the bottom of the hill. Petra's heart was beating faster, her hands clammy and cold despite the heat. She would have to look up soon, 'For fuck's sake, Petra, play it cool,' she told herself.

"Hey there, school girl!" A voice called out.

_My god_, Levi thought, _what the fuck was that? Trying to not come off as a creep worked out just great_.

Petra tossed back her golden hair and laughed, her face lighting up, "Hey there, drop-out!" She called back. She immediately regretted it. _I sound like such a judgemental bitch_. Levi didn't go to school, hadn't done for years, like loads of other kids. But unlike them, it wasn't because he was unintelligent-he was one of the cleverest people Petra knew. But school didn't exactly, well, fit in with him. He worked better alone, taught himself stuff rather than take the school's word for it.

Levi grinned, throwing the ball at Petra. She missed, arms flailing. "Shit!" She said out loud, panicking and looking for where it had gone. She grabbed it, smiling awkwardly, and threw it back to Levi. _Wow, Petra_.

Levi laughed. "Gonna have to do some practising before you go running off to the Survey Corps!"

"I wasn't ready!" Petra protested back. Levi laughed, and they started walking together, swinging his bag, her hair blowing in front of her face with the light wind.

"Will you be ready when a titan's running after you?" There was a tiny edge to his voice.

"I'm training, so yes, I will."

"You realise how high the death rate is?"

Petra frowned. "Of course I do, Levi. But it doesn't stop me from wanting to join; I want to help get the land outside the wall back. I want to help people."

Levi tilted his head. He knew this was what Petra wanted, they'd talked loads over the past two years on these walks home, and Petra often spoke about how she was going to join the Corps. He just kept remembering how half of them died on their first mission. That wasn't a figure of speech either, literally half of them died on only their first mission out. As they walked through the narrow houses, he could almost picture Petra's body, mangled by a titan, and he obviously wanted to stop her from leaving.

He just sighed. "I know it's what you want."

"Yeah." Petra muttered, her voice and gaze drifting. Petra was more distant these days, Levi had noticed it. He knew it was probably her mother; he wanted to help but didn't know how.

They kept walking, going through the back ways and avoiding towns because they both knew that the other hated crowds and other people.

"And what about you?" Petra asked, "What do you want to do?"

Levi sucked in air through his teeth. "Oh, I don't know. I'll find something to do, maybe I'll work with Simon."

"God, Levi, you're way too good to work with a creep like Simon!" As soon as she said it she wanted to poke her eyes out. It was an exclamation that sounded a tiny bit too much like a compliment.

"Ooh, really?" He joked. "But Simon isn't a creep, he just-" Petra glared at him. "-Okay, so he's a creep. But he's not THAT bad, besides, he promised me money, a job. It's either that or working with my, uh, dad, so."

They didn't really talk about Levi's 'uh, dad'.

"Still," Petra sighed, "I just think you're too clever to waste away your days in a pottery shop. Or selling what you sell, which, by the way, is ridiculous and you should stop."

"I don't TAKE the drugs!" Levi laughed.

"And that makes it okay?" Petra demanded, glaring at him. "I don't know, I just think you could do a lot better."

Levi's face suddenly changed, along with the tone of the conversation.

"And I think you're better to not be delusional and run at killing machines, and get fucking killed, Petra."  
"Are we going to have this shitty conversation again, yeah? Because at least I work for what I want, instead of getting it by manipulating other people."

"I don't manipulate anyone, they are all willing to buy whatever it is, I just allow it to happen. And work? Don't you think I know what work is Petra?"

"Oh, fuck off."She stormed off in front of Levi, fists clenched, her stomach in knots of anger. How dare he? Who even was he to question what she wanted to do? That was up to her, not him. He had no say in what she did, nothing. And if she got killed, then whoop-de-doo, at least she'd tried to help. And it wasn't like anyone would miss her. Maybe dad. But seeing her face broke him anyway. She was better dead, but that wasn't the only reason she wanted to join, she actually wanted to help free everyone from the confines of these walls. And see the outside world, the real world. Anything to get out of here, get away from how things were now.

Levi stood and watched her go. He wasn't actually angry with her; he just didn't want her to die. And prove to her that he wasn't a layabout, and that things weren't so great with him either at the moment. His stomach seemed to be full of regret, and almost out of reflex, to stop her from walking away from him anymore,

"Petra, wait! I'm sorry." He called.

She spun around, and there were tears in her eyes. _Shit_.

"Really?" Her voice was hoarse, and cracked.

"Petra, you can do whatever you want to do. It's not up to me, I just want you to be okay, and you're not okay right now, are you? Petra-"

"I feel so shit right now, Levi." Her voice was tiny. "I'm sorry, for, telling you what you should and shouldn't be doing. I just don't really know what I'm doing myself at the minute."

Levi stepped towards her. "You haven't got anything to be sorry for. I'm the layabout, remember?" She laughed a little through her silent tears. "Oh, shit, Petra."

He hugged her while she cried into his shoulder.

"I must look so stupid." She mumbled into his coat, after she had stopped crying. "Sorry." She said, pulling away and wiping her face.

"Don't apologise for being upset." He said. "You can talk to me, I mean, about-"

"No," She cut him off. "It's okay."

He smiled. "Are we going via Joseph's?"

"Let's go via Joseph's."

Josephs was a food shop, and it would be great to expand on that, but Joseph literally sold every type of food. The most expensive items, like sugar and salt, right down to plain old bread and cheese. It was fairly priced, and Levi often brought Petra something from there while they walked home. In fact, he didn't like to say it but that was what he enjoyed most about earning money from selling stuff, being able to buy things for her.

He watched her walking around the tiny shop, looking carefully at each colourful item. The store was packed, different spices and pastes and herbs in jars lined the entirety of one of the walls, arranged so they looked like a rainbow, the darkest red peppers fading into bright yellow turmeric, along the entire length of the shelves. These, of course, were incredibly hard to get hold of and cost more than Levi's life probably did. Petra gazed at the herb-rainbow, but never touched it for fear of breaking one of the polished glass jars, sparkling in the quickly fading sunlight. The scents from the hundreds of spices clogged up the miniscule room.

Everyone brought from Joseph's, because of the diversity of his products. Sometimes, you saw the poor servants of the rich men up in the capital buying the spices from the top of the rainbow for their masters' food. Other times, they walked over to the alcohol cabinet where the wines and beers were kept. You saw the beggars looking through there, too, ruined by it. It was quite depressing, actually.

Petra looked at the chocolates, lined up on the white-painted table. There were tall glass vases full of colourful swirly sweets like glass marbles, and a tray of clear sweets that looked like stained-glass windows, arranged into patterns. They glittered like jewels, and Levi approached the table, whispering in the quiet shop, "Can't quite afford these." Petra broke into a smile, walking over to the different types of fruit.

"What can you afford?" She asked.

They left the shop eating packets of some sort of orange dried fruit that tasted not great, but they both pretended to love it. It should take an hour at most for them to walk home, but they always dragged it out as it was the only part of the day they spoke to each other. "Why do you always walk with me, Levi?" Petra asked as they passed an apple tree, the apples taken away to be sold or eaten by hungry people.

"My house is just past yours, it makes sense to walk together."

It wasn't.

"I've never actually seen your house."

"I know, good! It's horrible."

It wasn't, but his apparent 'father' was. Levi wanted to keep Petra as far away as possible from Mr. Ackerman.

"I'm sure it's fine." Petra smiled.

"Why do you always walk with me?" Levi asked in return.

"Well, I have to, to get home! Don't think I like walking with _you_, Levi." She grinned, punching him lightly on the arm as they walked.

Too soon, they'd reached Petra's little house, painted white, with a dark green roof. A donkey, an expensive thing, given to her dad after her mother had died, grazed in the tiny patch of garden. Petra looked at Levi. She's often joked about being taller than him, despite her short stature, but they were the same size now. They were about equal. It wouldn't be long before he had a growth spurt and overtook her completely, although he was unlikely to get that tall in comparison to everyone else. But to her, he would be different.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked, hand on the wooden gate that lead up to house. She considered inviting him in, but then realised how weird that would look. And what her dad would think of the notorious Levi Ackerman.

"Yeah," He began, about to say something. He changed his mind. "Petra, when do you leave for training?"

"Uh, when the summer is over."

"Say goodbye to me, yeah?" He asked, suddenly serious.

Her face broke into a smile.

"I'll remember you when I go to my death, Levi."

They both laughed, and she walked up the path to her house. Levi began to walk away, watching her walk to the door. He almost wanted her to turn and wave, but the green door slammed shut.

"Petra!" Her dad smiled. "Did you walk home?"

"Yeah, Dad. Hiya." She hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, dear, there's no point in you walking all that way, I've told you before. I didn't get given that donkey for nothing, you may as well use it to get home, love."

She smiled to herself, "I don't mind the walk coming home."


End file.
